“Chat Provencal (St. Remy de Provence)”
pencil, pastel, and watercolor
2014
As happens regularly these past four years, I woke up this morning and instantly missed Provence. Given my circumstances, I suppose I could choose to live anywhere, and my French and expat friends keep beckoning.
I sat on the front porch with my first coffee and pondered the chronic question…..Provence or Perigord (respectively, far southeast and far southwest France; I’ve spent plenty of time in both over the years). One can’t, of course,live in both; they’re utterly different in all the ways that matter to me…it’d be like .living simultaneously in New Orleans and Chicago.
Well, it’s not a problem that needs solving by sundown. For now, here’s a small painting from St. Remy. And just for the record?…..I’ve never, in all my years in various parts of France, ever seen a street cat (outside of Paris) that wasn’t sleek, healthy, and obviously well-fed. I eventually learned that, in the villages and small towns (where we spent the great majority of our time), street cats are treated kindly and as useful community property. The cats generally “belong” to at least six households (which seems an eminently sensible and productive attitude to me; I’ve never known a cat that didn’t want to be a roamer)